(1) Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of garment hangers. More particularly, this invention pertains to a foldable hanger that allows a garment to be folded in half along the centerline of the backside of the garment for transporting the garment in a compact luggage piece when travelling. When removed from the luggage piece, the hanger can be unfolded and used to support the garment on a standard hanger rod or pole in a manner similar to a conventional hanger.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Travelers often desire to travel light, carrying with them as few pieces of luggage as possible. It is also desirable for travelers on airplanes to avoid delays associated with checking-in luggage before their flight and retrieving luggage after their flight by stowing their items in the carry-on luggage.
In addition to carrying standard luggage, business travelers are often burdened with the additional need to carry a separate garment bag to transport easily wrinkled items of clothing, such as suits. Such garment bags pose numerous disadvantages for travelers attempting to travel light and avoid delays. One such disadvantage is that garment bags are usually relatively large since they are designed to hold garments generally unfolded. Thus, when attempting to use a garment bag as carry-on luggage while traveling on an airplane, it is often necessary to forcibly compact the garment bag into an overhead compartment. However, compacting the garment bags in this manner has a tendency to wrinkle the garments being transported. Furthermore, airlines are increasingly placing restrictions on the allowable size of carry-on luggage, thereby requiring passengers to check-in larger pieces luggage such as garment bags, which inevitably causes delays for many travelers. Another disadvantage associated with conventional garment bags is that they are typically non-rigid and therefore unsuited for being provided with towing wheels as have become increasing desirable to travelers. Thus, garment bags are often burdensome since travelers can not tow such luggage, but rather must carry the luggage by hand or support the luggage on their shoulder.
As an alternative to using a garment bag, some travelers prefer to fold their garments in a manner suitable for stowing in a conventional piece of carry-on luggage. However, it is often difficult to fold garments, such as suits, in a manner that prevents wrinkling. Additionally, it is often burdensome for travelers to remove the garments from the luggage and place those garments back on hangers when the traveler reaches his or her destination.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of prior art devices used to transport garments by providing a foldable hanger that allows various garments such as suits, shirts, and blouses to be quickly folded into a compact dimension small enough to be transported securely in a standard piece of carry-on luggage. Thus, no additional burdensome garment bag is needed for traveling. The foldable hanger of this invention also allows a traveler to quickly unpack such garments by simply hanging the invention on a conventional hanger rack or rod and unfolding the hanger.